With security breaches becoming an increasing concern, social networks and communication apps have started focusing on how to provide a safer place where people can discuss without the fear of having their personal data exposed.

WhatsApp, a Facebook company, has now encryption enabled by default and it is the first app to feature this function. According to The Verge, WhatsApp partnered with Open Whisper Systems to create the security layer and, while it is unclear when the changes will be available for iOS users, it’s still a huge step ahead.

What’s particularly interesting about this update is that the app won’t be able to decrypt the messages, but the users will have to exchange an authenticationkey prior to establishing a connection and only they will be able to decrypt the messages – that’s what end-to-end is all about.